Tiger junior Mason Campion makes 58 saves in a 4-1 loss against Marshall Duluth in consolation play, setting a tournament record for a non-OT game

March 8, 2013

MINNEAPOLIS An historic effort couldn't carry the Marshall Tigers to an historic result at Mariucci Arena on Thursday.

Tiger junior goaltender Mason Campion set state tournament records for saves in a regulation game with 58 and saves in a period for his 28-save second period.

Unfortunately for Campion and the Tigers, Marshall was defeated by Duluth Marshall 4-1 in a boys' state hockey tournament consolation game. The Tigers were out-shot 62-18 in the game.

Article Photos

Photo by Travis AndriesMarshall goaltender Mason Campion, left, gets in position to make a save while Duluth Marshall’s Joe Daly skates by near the crease in Thursday’s Class A state boys’ hockey tournament consolation game at Mariucci Arena in Minneapolis

"Mason was making great saves; he made great saves all tournament long, all section tournament long," Marshall head coach Dave Coudert said. "I expect to hopefully see him on the All-Tournament team for something. I know he is 0-2 but he made all the difference in our games."

Goals by Connor Flaherty and Matthew Klassen in the latter stages of the first period gave the Hilltoppers, champions of Section 7A, a 2-0 lead after one.

Campion, who recorded 12 saves in the opening 17 minutes, said he was determined to keep his team in the game, despite the play favoring Duluth Marshall for most of the morning.

"I just went into the period thinking that I don't want to be the reason we lose or the reason we get blown out," Campion said. "I just went in there and stopped the puck. At the end of the period I looked up at the scoreboard and it was 29 shots later. I didn't think it was that many."

Only Anthony Miller's goal 16 minutes, 44 seconds into the period got past Campion. Miller got lost in traffic following an expired Tiger penalty and snapped a Jeremy Lopes rebound over Campion's right shoulder.

Regardless of the goal, Campion was able to blow past Chris Sall's 2005 record of 22 saves in a period. Sall also made his record-setting contribution in the second period as his Duluth East Greyhounds rebounded for a 3-2 win over White Bear Lake.

Coudert said Campion was ready to go from the start against the Hilltoppers.

"It was just typical Mason," Coudert said. "He goes out there and does his job. We didn't have to talk to him, he was just ready to go."

Campion turned aside 18 of the 19 shots he faced in the third period while breaking Rochester Century and University of Minnesota alum Alex Kangas' mark of 50, also set in 2005.

Campion was unsure that he had broken any record, much less two, until he got off the ice. His 58 saves for the game were also just seven stops from tying the record for overtime games as well. Karl Goering turned aside 65 shots in a five-overtime win for Apple Valley over Duluth East in 1996.

"I had no idea," Campion said. "I got off the ice and they were like, 'You broke a record.' I was like, 'You lying or what?'"

Thursday was also Campion's 17th birthday.

The Hilltoppers never let off against the Tigers, who used a no-quit attitude to briefly scare Breck on Wednesday. Coudert thought that his team's performance against the Mustangs gave the Hilltoppers motivation to play a complete game.

"I think we gained a lot of respect with that Breck game and (Duluth Marshall) definitely brought their top lines against us for most of the game," Coudert said. "We made all the teams work here and we hold our heads up high because we didn't lay down for anyone."

Marshall got on the board with Beau Mikel's breakaway goal at the 10:38 mark of the third period, while Duluth Marshall added its fourth goal three minutes earlier on Lane Eliason's wrister from the slot.

When Coudert took over as head coach last summer, he predicted the Tigers would make their first state tournament in school history. Despite correctly foreseeing Marshall's fate in the 2012-13 season, Coudert was unwilling to venture a guess as to what the future holds for Marshall.